


Widow's Weeds II – Of Love and Loss and other Confusions

by BardicRaven



Series: Arrow - Widow's Weeds [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Episode: s03e05 The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak, Episode: s03e09 The Climb, Gen, Irritated!Author-fic, Oliver Queen - offstage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-16
Packaged: 2018-03-01 20:39:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2786987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/pseuds/BardicRaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, you just have to call your Mom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Widow's Weeds II – Of Love and Loss and other Confusions

**Author's Note:**

>   _But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame_  
>      _Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same;_  
>      _And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,_  
>      _The female of the species must be deadlier than the male._
> 
> ##### -Rudyard Kipling, The Female of the Species

***********

“Mom. I need to talk to you. Please call me back.”

Felicity hung up her cell-phone, slumped back against the couch.

No, she wasn't taking this well.

So close. And yet so not happening now. She alternated between waves of anger and waves of grief, both threatening to drown her in their watery depths.

How dare he have the last thing he ever said to her be “I love you.”, when he'd never admitted it before?

Too late.

And yet... she was forced to admit, if only to herself, that if he'd never said the words at all, her life would be even poorer than it was now.

Frustrating, irritating man. Impossible to live with.

Impossible to live without.

***********

Her phone rang.

“Mom?”

“What's wrong, honey?” her mother asked quickly. “You sounded really upset in your message.”

“Mom, how did you cope... after Dad left?”

“I was so busy working to support us that I didn't have a lot of time for 'coping'. Why?”

Felicity considered, then took the chance. She'd had far too much proof recently that holding secrets could cause as much harm as good.

“Do you remember when you met Oliver Queen?”

“Remember?" Her mother laughed. "How could I forget?”

“You're right, Mom. I guess it was pretty memorable.” She took a deep breath, then the plunge. “Well, there's another reason it was pretty memorable.”

She paused, fighting to hold back the tears. “Oliver... and I... we...”

“What?” Silence. “Am I going to be a grandmother? Is that what you're trying to tell me, Felicity?”

“What?” Startled out of her grief, Felicity floundered a moment before catching up to her mother's train of thought. “No! That is... it's complicated.”

“Felicity, love isn't complicated. It either is or it isn't.”

_You've never met the man. Not like I have._ she thought. “That's just it. It's both. And neither.”

“I don't understand.”

“I'm not sure I do either, Mom. How can you love someone and hate them at the same time?”

“It's not easy, but I know I went through it with your father. In spite of everything, there was a part of me that still loved him, even though the rest of me was furious at what he'd done to me, to us.”

“What did you do, Mom?”

“Well, like I said, I was so busy working that I didn't have time to think about it much. But when I did, I just remembered to focus in on what really mattered: taking care of my beautiful baby girl.”

“So, focus in on what's important.”

“Yes.” A pause, then motherly concern. “So why do you love and hate Oliver?”

“Because he said he loved me. And then he went away. And I don't know if he's ever coming back.” She nearly choked on the partial lie, but there was no good way to explain to her mother how she knew Oliver was never coming back.

“Oh, honey, that's hard. I wish I could help you more, but all I can say is to take it one day at a time. And keep praying for him to come back. If that's what you really want.”

_More than anything._ she thought, but didn't say it. She didn't want her mom planning a wedding that could never be.

“Thanks, Mom. It's good to hear your voice.”

“Anytime, Felicity. You let me know how it goes with Oliver. I want to know if I can expect wedding bells.”

“I wouldn't hold your breath, Mom. But I will.”

“Take care, Felicity. You know I worry about you.”

“I'll be okay, Mom. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

She hung up. Her mother had helped more than she knew. Oliver was never coming back, but there was still something she could do.

She grabbed her purse and headed for Verdant. 

It was going to be a long night.


End file.
